Metro area | Columbus, Ohio |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Founded | March 2005 |
Teams |
Ohio Roller Derby All-Stars Gang Green |
Track type(s) | Flat |
Venue | The Ohio State Fairgrounds |
Affiliations | WFTDA |
Org. type | LLC |
Website | www |
Ohio Roller Derby (OHRD) is a women's flat track roller derby League based in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 2005, the league currently consists of two mixed teams which compete against teams from other leagues. Ohio Roller Derby is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
Ohio Roller Derby was founded as the Ohio Roller Girls (OHRG) in April 2005 by Melissa "Scarlette Fury" Wallace, with the first bout held in Battelle Hall at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on April 23, 2006. In 2007, the league began holding bouts at the Lausche Building at the Ohio State Fairgrounds, by which point they were drawing roughly 1,000 fans to events.
In 2007, the league hosted the first WFTDA Eastern Regional Tournament, Heartland Havoc. Twelve teams from the East Region of the WFTDA competed, with Gotham Girls Roller Derby (New York City) winning the tournament.
In 2008, the league debuted an all-Ohio roller derby expo at the Ohio State Fair. The event returned in 2009 and 2011.
In May 2010, the league hosted the WFTDA Annual Meeting, known as Oh!con.
In 2016, the league announced a name change to "Ohio Roller Derby", to better reflect its community and its members.
Ohio Roller Derby is a skater-owned and operated organization, overseen by a board of directors that is elected by its members.
For its first three seasons, OHRG had a four-team home league comprising the Band of Brawlers, the Blackeye Bullies, the Sprockettes, and the Take-Outs, which competed for a league championship called the Envy Cup, held at times at the Lausche Building at the Ohio Expo Center. Each team had a unique theme. The Brawlers were the WWII-inspired military team, the Bullies were schoolyard bullies, the Sprockettes were from space, and the Take-Outs were ninja-esque.
Beginning with the 2009 season, the league switched to an A & B team, interleague only format, consisting of the WFTDA Chartered Team (formerly All-Stars) that competes against other WFTDA leagues from around the country for rankings, and a B-team, Gang Green, that plays against other WFTDA B teams and non-WFTDA teams.